02.

We spent the whole day in Timisoara, running errands. Days like this for a social worker consist of waiting in lines, walking across the city only to wait in a longer line, and paperwork. It was so interesting to see what it's like to take on someone else's case, and seeing it unto completion. So much dedication and love is required in order to not burn out. We spent the morning on the steps of a high school, while Sanda advocated for one of her girls to be admitted. Apparently, authorities are touchy here, and we didn't want to push any buttons, so Ashley and I sat outside discussing our thoughts thus far. It has been awesome to have a friend and classmate here experiencing these things with me--it is so good to process them out loud.

Next, we met with another one of the girls, who is officially the first girl from DH to graduate high school and move on to college. We had to go to the public notary's office, and spent a long time there. Am I ignorant in wondering at how easy it was for me to register for college?

The next part of the day was close to my heart, although I did not get to be as big of a part of it. Sanda, another dear girl from DH and her mother met with a lawyer this morning--because of the disclosure that needed to take place in that initial meeting, Ashley and I were limited to the lobby, where we prayed for the meeting taking place and flipped through Romanian lawyer magazines. We talked to Sanda afterwards about the situation, and found out more about the girl's story and the meeting with the lawyer. Ashley and I have a scheduled meeting with a lawyer to discuss child protection laws in Romania, as well as norms within the judicial system here. We are feeling very involved here, as far as our work goes. I feel so incredibly blessed to be so welcomed and trusted in this ministry.

Our last stop was the police station, where we picked up ID cards for two of the girls in Deborah House 1 (their very first ones!) A good end to a long day of trying to figure out policies and cases and educational systems. I got to see first hand that "taking care of business" days in Romania do, in fact, require entire days. Wow.